Building deal legit
Commissioners searched for alternative locations for about three years before buying old Firestone structure
Alamogordo Daily News
By Duane Barbati, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/24/2010 12:00:00 AM MDT


The Otero County Commission's purchase of the old Firestone building for county administration offices was originally supposed to be about $1.35 million, but additions to the building put the purchase price at more than $1.4 million.
Commission chairman Doug Moore and Clarissa McGinn voted to approve the purchase of the building at 1104 White Sands Blvd. during a special meeting June 3. Commissioner Ronny Rardin was absent from the meeting because of a prior commitment.

Rardin said he had first heard Tommy Herrell had purchased the building in 2009.

"Herrell had started tearing the building apart to put offices in it," Rardin said. "I saw it then and thought, 'Why didn't we buy it?' because it's so close to our offices (on New York Avenue)."

Rardin said McGinn was against purchasing the building because of the liability aspects of a vacant building that was torn apart and unsecured.

"There were some hobos living in it and it was an empty shell of a building," Rardin said. "McGinn didn't want the liability and Herrell said he was going to make it into offices, then the county can buy it from him (Herrell). If we (the county) were going to, this is how we would want it built."

He said the county decided to purchase the building after it was built to their specification.

Herrell is running for the District 1 county commission seat in the November general election. Herrell provided the Daily News with the purchase agreement on the building between him and Dennis Crimmins, of White Sands Construction.

Herrell said he sold the building to White Sands Construction for $257,000 because he was running for the commission seat.

"I purchased the building for $200,000 in December 2008," he said. "I want the public to know the truth. I think there has been a lot of misinformation and a lot of innuendos about it. I am being out in the open. I am getting the facts straight out there because I am running for county commission. I want people to know that they can trust me."

Herrell originally purchased the property to remodel it into office space, then started to tear out the heating and air conditioning unit, cleaned the roof and demolished the interior of the building, which cost him about $30,000. He had also paid an additional cost of $24,000 for architecture designs, interest for the loan on the building and a Phase 1 environmental study on the site and building.

Herrell said someone approached him about the county purchasing the building from him.

"I told the county that I'll stop what I am doing and sell it to them," he said. "They approached me in February 2009. I sold it to Crimmins because I was going to run for the commission seat. I had talked to Radio Shack and a restaurant to rent space in the building. I could have made about $150,000 a year in rent on the building, but the county needed it. I didn't make any money on it."

County manager Ray Backstrom said the county had been looking at different locations to move the county clerk, assessor and treasurer's offices because they needed to move them out of the courthouse.

"We looked at the old Walmart building at the U.S. Highway 54/70 area," Backstrom said. "We needed additional space for them. They have moved into the offices in the remodeled building at 1104 White Sands Blvd. The commission has been looking for a new location for the last three years that I remember."

The original purchase agreement for the building from White Sands Construction was just over $1.3 million, but construction changes put the building at $1.44 million.

The 11,328-square-foot building, which includes a basement in the facility, also had an addition added to the building, plus $94,353.62 in construction changes that include an access control of exterior doors, fiber link cable, security conduit, heating and air conditioning unit, additional windows and sealing of the parking lot prior to striping.

Backstrom said he believes it's a beautiful building.

"I think it was a good buy for the county," he said. "It allows the county to add another courtroom in the courthouse for an additional judge, which we need."

Rardin said he believes it was the best purchase for the county.

"If it wasn't election season, Janet White would have never said a word about it," he said. "I gave her all the information. I would give anybody the information. We weren't hiding anything. We went about it in the right way. It was a liability issue of a building that was not finished. We only paid about $122 per square foot for the building. I think we still got a deal for the county."